Alone on Mount Mariah

Infinite resignation grew into a faith,
the philosopher might have said,
that Isaac would not be required on that height,
a simple matter of, "I and the lad will go yonder
and worship, and come again to you,"
but he did not say when;
he did not say in what form.

And with the faith of Abraham, we prepared
the sacrifice that God would not allow:
good dry wood for the fire,
strong rope to bind him there,
one body becoming ten souls,
by noon, the soul of man. He
laid Isaac on the altar, upon the wood,
and with Hell screaming,
withdrew the knife from its sheath,

as Earth trembled.
Abraham's eyes turned to heaven,
but no angel called his name;
there was no sacrificial lamb
caught in a thicket to replace.
The knife billowing with flame
became a cloud of smoke.
Abraham closed his eyes and groaned,
his arm unstoppable, the knife point down,
and Isaac rode a fiery chariot
above that holy ground.


(Arkansas Magazine, Arkansas Democrat, February 9, 1986)